Eddy Merckx Caught in Corruption Case

Cycling hero indicted in Belgium

Eddy Merckx, the five-time Tour de France champion from Belgium who was recently awarded the French Legion of Honor, has been indicted on corruption charges. Merckx is said to have sold bicycles from his eponymously named company to the police department in Anderlecht, Belgium in 2007 after learning how much a competitor planned to charge the department. Prosecutors say Anderlecht's chief of police later received a top-end bike at a heavy discount. Merckx sold in the company in 2008. Prosecutors delayed the charges to allow French president Nicholas Sarkozy to present Merckx with the Legion of Honor in December.